ALS comminution process development testwork, at both laboratory and continuous pilot plant scales, minimises the technical risks associated with the development of comminution circuits.
Crushing and grinding of ores is a significant capital and operating cost in many mineral processing plants, and up to fifty percent of the operating costs can be attributed to crushing and milling alone.
It is important to fully determine the comminution parameters relevant to the crushing and milling of an ore to enable plant design to take place with confidence. The results from these tests are used for simulation modelling, scale-up studies, and technical due diligence.
- Autogenous Media Competency (AMC)
- Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS)
- Point Load Test
- Bond Impact Crushing Work Index
- Bond Abrasion Index
- Bond Rod Mill Work Index
- Bond Ball Mill Work Index
- Comparative Work Index
- Inferred Work Index
- High Pressure Grinding Rolls (HPGR) batch and continuous
- JK Drop-Weight Testwork
- SMC Test
- Levin Open Circuit Grindability
- Pilot SABC (AG/SAG) up to 4tph
- SAG Design (Starkey)
- SAG Grinding Index (SGI)
- Ultra-fine grinding – IsaMill™, Metso Verti-mill, Stirred Media Detritor, Deswik, Metprotech
ALS also offers extensive crushing, screening, bulk grinding, scrubbing and attritioning capabilities.
For many projects, to reduce the technical and commercial risk, there is no substitute for pilot testing. The best pilot programmes are based on thorough bench scale testing and circuit simulation.
Comminution pilot-plant capabilities include a permanent pilot AG/SAG milling circuit installation. The mill is one of the few remaining 6’ x 2’ high aspect units in the world still in operation. This
instrumental pilot plant allows circuit changes to be brought to steady-state more rapidly and avoids wasted pilot plant time.
Circuit configurations, including AG, SAG, ABC, or SABC, are easily evaluated. With an extensive flexible piloting facility, the dedicated ALS pilot plant team can configure a range of continuous circuits for all commodities, incorporating:
- Bulk Crushing, Blending and Screening
- AG/SAG Milling
- Pebble, Ball and Rod Milling
- High Pressure Grinding Rolls
- Ultra-Fine Grinding
- Hydrocyclones
- Hydrometallurgy
- Magnetic Separation
- Dense Medium Cyclone Plant
- Gravity Separation
- Flotation
- Thickening and Filtration
- Tailings Management